[Un]Happy Easter… Well, Partly.

After six years of being a happy bunny mommy - when Easter was more fun - I was a bit bored this time… Don't misunderstand me, I hate that Easter maddness around those poor white bunnies in the supermarkets, waiting for "adoption", but half of those poor creations usually end in the streets, or on the Easter table as free meat or in a spoiled brat's hands or a coat for next Winter... the list of the horrible death of those bunnies is just as endless as the human selfishness itself. The leftover is usually end in the zoo, where they will become snake "yummies", but only after the holidays, when noone cares yet… NO. I just liked the idea that I have a bunny fellow around this time of the year too, especially because I'm not celebrating the liturgical kind of Easter, but rather the pagan 'Ostara & co. with fluffy bunnies' version. I like Spring, especially Spring rain, but I don't mind if there is good weather with birds and butterflies and flowers, beautiful trees and clouds until it's somewhat quiet outside [no shrieking kids ONLY birds...] or it's not Summer, when noone can breathe normally from the 100°C… I hate Summer, especially in this town. Anyway. So beside I was cooking and watched some of "Aqua’s favourites" I was really bored… and somewhat lonely without her hopping, cheery company.
I coulnd't decide yet whether I bring home a new baby bunny or not. She left a bigger void in my wretched heart then I believed. Well, maybe next year…
or not.

So I cooked.
Although I'm very eclectic in the kitchen, so I usually cook whatever I just want in the certain moment through the year, but as long as my mom lives [I hope for a long time] I certainly stay traditional on the Holidays.
I think last year I wrote something about a typical Hungarian Easter dinner [Saturday], what more or less but the same in many families still today. The dinner is usually contains: the Easter ham [a special marinated and boiled ham], fresh seasonal vegetables and fruits, boiled eggs, horseradish and of course the kalács [sweet plaited loaf].

The serving is a bit posh I know… Relax, I'm not some 1950's housewife-type lunatic, definitely NOT, I just wanted to make my mom happy. My dad used to decorate the Easter table with care, so I think it's my turn to carry on his tradition for a while. It was not a big work, about 10-15 minutes the whole decoration to make…

So Hungarians eat this veggie-ham-kalács combo on Saturday evening, but eat whatever they like on Sunday and Easter Monday.
That's why I chose a Jane Austen menu.
???
Literary cookbooks are fun, although I'm not a fan of Miss Austen's world, due to I dislike romantic literature. I know she was more like a romantic-realist but I can't help it. When I was a teen I liked to watch the tv version of the Pride and Prejudice but that was all. And instead of other girls I never wanted a Mr. Darcy-type man for myself like many girls and women do still today. What I never understood, because – and now my feminism here or there – but many girls today are everything but Elizabeth Bennet… Me neither. And if I think into it, sometimes I'm more like Darcy when he is in that village Dance or whatever in the beginning of the story when he behaves like a stuck-up jerk. Especially when I have to be in a company I really dislike… Hahhaha 

So a couple of years ago my friend visited my other friend in England and they were in the Jane A. Museum and bought me this book, because they knew I like classic English food too [beside cooking]. I don't know whether you can buy this book on Amazon or not, but if you are into Austen things you will love this. The illustrations are cute too.

I chose among the recipes the liver loaf, because I usually make something chicken or duck liver dish at Easter. It's from chicken liver, bread, milk, egg and some other ingredients. The recipe doesn't say certain seasonings and spices, so I used marjoram and rosemary. I never seasoned liver with rosemary, pity, because they make a very good match! 

That scones are from potato. Actually puree with flour, butter, salt, leek and nutmeg, then you make scones with your hands and fried them out in a greased pan on both sides. Easy to make and yummy even just in itself!

The dessert was another interesting new taste for me. It looked like I make a simple orange-butter cake, but the recipe said, put some ground cummin/caraway seeds and nutmeg in it. At first hearing it sounded strange for me, but ohhohoho it was great!!! Sugar-orange glaze on the top. 

Summarized: So at least I ate a good again.

By the way, it's snowstorm outside!!!! Hohohohoo or what the heck now?! It's April for god sakes...
The new symbol of the Hungarian Easter should be, a bunny with Santa hat…  

On 22nd will be the international Earth Day. I don't know what I could say to our Lady Planet. Maybe: Please accept my deepest sympathy. We are both on the same opinion about humans. …and yeah after these years a certain trumper guy still can says that global warming is a hoax… funny, isn't it?

Good Day!/Szép napot! ✌

Hungarian Easter: The Saturday Dinner And Symbols

The today known Easter celebrated since the III. century, in Hungary we celebrate since the XI. century, punctually since 1092, about 30 years after the death of our first king Stephen I. 

Although the Church and the religious people gave Christian meanings to almost every Easter symbols, most of them came from ancient pagan cultures anyway, because the celebration of the beginning of Spring [celebrating Spring equinox] is more ancient than Christianity. The following Sunday after the first full moon after Spring equinox was the celebration of Ostara, goddess of the Spring in the ancient German culture. The name 'Easter' also came from the German word 'Ostern' after the Goddess Ostara/Ostra.

She was the goddess of fertility, always imaged with Spring flowers, tendrils, eggs in her hand, bunnies at her feet, birds around her and floral tribute on her head. She symbolized the revival of nature and men.

We call this holiday Húsvét. The word 'húsvét' is a mosaic-word and has liturgical meaning only.
In the Hungarian folklore too the main symbols are the egg and the bunnies. Beside these there are baby chicks and the barka/gosling. We still decorate our Easter table with gosling and painted eggs, well leastwise the tradition keepers.

The egg 

The most ancient symbol of fertility. It symbolizes the mother womb or the universe, the mystery of lifeless become living. The main symbol of Easter. Long tradition is to paint and decorate eggs. The most popular is the red egg. The red as color is also a magical symbol. They believed the red is some protecting color. Someones believed it symbolizes Christ's blood or like the red egg Christ's heart [in cubist form... Hahaha Sorry.].

The egg painting as tradition remained in Eastern-Europe firstly. It's a very common tradition still today. I painted eggs too when I was a kid. I loved it. I don't make nowadays because we have some folk eggs for the occasion to decorate with. We bought them in Tihany, where old ladies in folk dresses make the most beautiful ones.

In Hungary every ethnical group has its own egg decoration technic and pattern.
The most popular one is drawing the pattern with candle wax on the egg, then paint the egg with color you want and the wax drawing just appear. This technic is called tojásírás/eggwriting [above, the last green one]. The fully decorated egg called hímestojás [above, the first one for example]. 

In the old times they used various vegetables or herbs to get paint. They cooked the herbs or vegetables till they let out all their colors, then cooked the egg in that painted water till the egg became the current colored:
Beetroot - Reddish purple
Red onion-skin - Purple
Onion-skin – Reddish brown
Coffee bean – Deep brown
Black tea – Deep brown
Red cabbage – Blue
Turmeric – Yellow
Orange and lemon – Light yellow
Rosehip – Pink
Spinach – Green
Ground paprika – Orange

After Winter the first eggs meant the coming of Spring, so probably that was the reason to decorate eggs out of happyness.
They also used eggs to perdict the future. They poured an egg in a glass full of water on Good Friday and the figure shown the next year's crops. [I can't imagine how they could see something else than a strange surreal blob in a water…] Girls put the egg-shells onto the doorstep to dream that night what will be their future husbands' occupation [another mystery…].

Rabbits 

The bunny wo brings painted eggs is a more complicated symbol and absolute has nothing to do with Christianity. Bunnies always symbolized fertility. Since they are nocturnal animals, they often refer them with the moon, which is also the symbol of fertility, not to mention the strange rabbit figure on the surface of the moon.
The connection between the rabbit and the egg is origined from the German mythology. Goddess Ostara has a magical bird once, who layed colored eggs. One day the goddess out of anger/or in other stories to amuse the children she turned the bird into rabbit... So the big secret revealed!

The barka/gosling [but not that odd Ryan guy…]
It has many names. Some cultures call it kitty-cat because of the fluffy round crops. We call it leányfűz/maiden-willows or pálmafűz/palm-willows or simply gosling-tree.
In the old times people ascribed to the gosling healing power. If they spread that into the family fireplace they believed that would protect the house from troubles and grief. Or they used to eat it as medicine against sore throat.

In Christianity it connects to Palm Sunday [When Jesus arrived into Jerusalem the people greeted him with palm-branches.]. But instead of palm [due to we haven't any here.. Haha], Hungarians replaced it with gosling as the symbol of the first crops of the early Spring.

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As I wrote about the traditional Hungarian Christmas dinner table, our Easter dinner table is the same, we have particular dishes to this occasion as well.
The two most basic foods are the Húsvéti sonka/Easter ham, which is a special marinated, smoked whole pork leg and the Fonott kalács/Twisted bun, which is a kind of sweet bread. Twisted bun is very common, so you can buy it through the year. I love it either with marmalade or as sandwich with butter and salami...
The beliefs of Easter ham are rather magical than sacralic, but despite this the most significant Easter food for a very long time. Always was the main dish among agricultural people along the centuries...

The Eastern basket
This used to be a popular tradition in the countyside.
They put every symbolic Easter foods tastily in a big basket and after the Easter mass the priest blessed it. Then the family went home and ate the blessed Easter meal together. You can see some beautiful hand-embroidered tablecloths in the Ethnographic Museum at Budapest. They used those tablecloths to cover the baskets. 

The content of the baskets were variant by ethnical regions and groups, but the ham, egg and twisted bun were usually there.
It was a habit to hang the blessed ham onto a fruit tree, to bring them good crops and fruits, and they fed the hens with leftover breadcrumbs to lay much eggs.

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My dad used to buy Easter ham, but since he passed we don't buy, because we are not very into porky things [except bacon...]. I don't know how it made. But they usually eat the ham with horseradish cream/or the Hungarian version is more like some kind of chutney.
I never make Twisted bun neither, I buy it. Next to our house there is a very good bakery, they never use additives or other sh♥♥♥y things and their buns are very tasty, I wouldn't make better at home. 

Beside these usually there are boiled eggs, pogácsas and various fresh vegetables on the tables, such as radish, horseradish, yellow pepper, leek, red onion, spring onion.. etc.
Some modern Easter dishes are Stuffed egg [with sausage, boiled egg yolk and herbs or with ham and horseradish], Carrot cake, Cottage cheese cake, Bear leek and ham filled sweet bun/bread, Ham broth, Lamb pörkölt… etc.

Sadly or not we broke the tradition too.
Our Easter dinner is usually homemade duck liver pate with radish, apple, mango chutney, baguette and fresh corn salad.

Happy Easter!/Kellemes Húsvétot! ✌

Aqua's Movie Review Or The Bunny Post

This time Aqua wants to write some things for you. Easter is her big time [like Halloween to me] and she wants to refer you some films for the weekend.

Please respect that pushing the keyboard with paws is a very complicated operation and her spelling way isn't so perfect as well especially in English. But despite these I think you can understand her. Now I go to the kitchen, I make my favourite liver pate for the Easter dinner…

-Aqua! The laptop is yours, c'mon sweety they are waiting for you!

…

*exiting snuffles and sniffles*

-Well helo everryone! I can havve the word at last… I luve my mommy but she never let me wrrting becose she always 'as better thing to write, she thinks… yeah, as if…

Now its the first tim e you really 'ear from me so I inntroduce myself properly.

Myy real name iss Aquamarine Anthea… Yeah very posh indeed. Acccording to mmoma Aquamarine is some moving picture title abot a fish-lady or lady-fish, and Anthea is a murmurrel murderer in a book by some Crispy or Criszty, wait I remember.. Christie!

Im 6 yearrs old now, but I never felt myself yunger! My 'obbies are muncching, pooping, munching my poop, attacking carton boards and annoying my momma, who is luve me but soometimes she forgets that my dîner is punctually at 8:00p.m NOT 8:01p.m! 'ow many evenings spend with scraping the clozet [where she keeps MY food…] to remind 'er that my dîner is a TINY bit late… At least I have the patience… *sneezes*

Im a Southeast-French breed so my real 'omeland is the Frrench Riviera, what i never saw, but I don't mind, im 'appy 'ere more. My real parents were some stuck-up prized ones but I was borred among them, they were too busy to keep themselves beautifu and clean for the necxt prize, I like being messy and my sisterz were annoying and sztupid too. All I want ed to get away from there but I didn't know 'ow or whhere… Then 2 1 day this strange auntie came and when I saw 'er I knew what I want. I wanted to be with 'err so I played the cute as I just could from the botttom of my 'eart. I won, she fell for my trick in a minute! ~Piuu.. 'umans soo eazy… Look at the foto picturess she made abot me. Iam perrfectly cute, am I?!

Im notlike as my momma see me… yeah Im petit and fluffy but that doesn't mean Im silly tooo… She thinks myonly thoughts abot carrrots and confusings… Ha ha ho funny auntie… *sneezes 4 times* Believe or not but I sometimes thinkk abot those tiny yellow dots on the …what is she calls it… Sky! yeah so I like to medicate meditate – on my beautifu and confor-table red box [hummans call it litterbox…?] – what are they for [I mean those dottts not the box], whats the meaning of our life, what are the secret of the Uvers Unniers Univers and so onn. *sneezes 7 times* Sorrry my nose is very sensitive.

I luve Easster. Everything is niice and green outside /the other sidee of the window/, and there are more fluffy whites on the sky and birdiez, beees and nice-smelling flowwers... Usually, but not now! The weathher iss more like in late Fall… almost snowwing… ~Brrr.. but leastwise this home is nice and warm.

Now the list. I reccomend toyou some filmies to the 'olyday. I enjjoy animé-s abot my fellow animals more than 'uman movies. I leave those to my momma, although she doessn't very fond of 'er own kind… strange a woman I tell ya… 

Peter Rabbit & Friends – of course t'is is on my first place. Its 'uge, there is everything in it: adventure, nice felllows and 'andsome bunny boys… ／(๑╹ᆺ╹)＼♥ that Benjamin Bunny is really cute in that crocheted 'at! Mommy aways teases me thatt I fell in love wid a celebrity, but Ithink she just can shut the fluff up addmiring some singing male 'uman in 'er age… shame if you ask me... 

Vuk/The Little Fox – a classic animé in this country. This iss abot a littli fox. Although Im a bunny who iss a potential munchy onthe foxs' food list, I like foxes, maybe because my momma totally reminds me them but she luves me and cares for mee instead of intend to eat me… beside its only a movie, thankfully I never saw afox in real life. I more afraidd of dogs… 

Kissyfur – Various animals livving ina big forrest… My favourite is that snoring grumpy pig, 'e iz soo funny *laughs and snores* 

Vili a veréb/Vili the sparrow – anotther 'ungarian classic and personal favori to mommy. A naughty boyy who lives in the 'eart of Budapest and likes to pick on smalller animals like 'is cat or little sparrows. Then one day an old fairy comes and turn the boyy into a sparrow to punish 'im. Cute sparrow felllows and Budapest, what more else? [Sadly no Ennglish subtitle…]

Pom Poko – A famouss animé from the land called Japon, where my momma wants to go all the time… Seriously I start to be bored with it… I would cry out loud too that I WANT TO GO TO THE RIVIERA, I WANT TO SEE MY 'OMELAND! …..*cricket chirp*….. See? Noone gives a fluffy damn.

So this iz abot naughty racoons who like to scare the stupid 'umans who wants to take away their precious forressts. Go racoonies! 

The Busy World of Richard Scarry – Retro animé-s werre much better. I love thiss classic serie. Soo kute 

Ratatouille – This is cute too, that talented littli rat makes yummy thinks things in Paris - where I wasn't either. Momma was onnce, loong before I was born. She likes to cook tasty things too, maybe she also learned to cook from a rat. 

Frakk és a macskák/Frakk and the cats – A dog, two kitties and two old 'umans living int he suburb of Buda [Budapest] and annoying each other all the timme. Very old seriez but very funny at once. Sadly thiss is only in 'ungarian too but its funny anyway. 

Vacak, az erdő hőse/The Seventh Brother – this starts verry sadly. Someone throws away from a car a littli puppy at a forrest at Easter. Im afraid of dogs, but I feel sorry for this littli dog. Momma hates those 'umans who do dis, I think she just never could do dis to me… I 'ope. Although Im messy I eat all the vegetables and Im kute too!

Fantastic Mr. Fox – anoter foxy story whichh is funny not frightening.  

Noow I finish. My paws 'urt. 

I 'ope momma doessn't want to read what I wrote.. eszpecially what I wrote abot 'er…

I sink I just post without showwing 'er…

'oppy Eastter!!!! *sniff sniff* ૮⍝◜•ᆺ•◝⍝ა